The "Middle East and Terrorism" Blog was created in order to supply information about the implication of Arab countries and Iran in terrorism all over the world. Most of the articles in the blog are the result of objective scientific research or articles written by senior journalists.

From the Ethics of the Fathers: "He [Rabbi Tarfon] used to say, it is not incumbent upon you to complete the task, but you are not exempt from undertaking it."

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Alarming Footage: Who Is Really Using Chemical Weapons in Syria?

by Theodore and Walid Shoebat In December of last year we revealed that the Syrian rebels had in their hands potent chemical weapons and were testing them on rabbits, and we predicted that they will use them on innocents.Well now it is happening.Recent new evidence translated from Arabic sources reveals the likelihood that it was the Muslim rebels (FSA) — and not the Assad regime — that carried out a chemical attack on the town of Khan al-Assal, west of Aleppo.We have captured clips that were never translated (until now) showing rebels revealing heavy arsenals including weapons of mass destruction that contain chemical agents.Russia says that it was the FSA that carried out the massacre while the White House says that there is no evidence that the rebels are responsible.In Arab circles, the blaming goes back and forth. The Syrian government blames the FSA and vise-versa.So who do we believe?Even if we examine the sources in Arabic we find that the reporting on this story is usually done by masters of confusion. For example, how can an FSA reporter film an exploded chemical rocket at a close distance and remain alive?But if we examine the videos during all the clashes between the FSA and the Syrian military we find much evidence from footage never seen in the West (until now) showing that weapons cache of scuds, tanks, Sam-7 rockets and even weapons of mass destruction (chemical as well as biological) are falling into the hands of FSA rebels.In one video that we found, the Syrian rebels, after taking an airbase, show the substantial amount of scud missiles now in their hands:And just when you think that these rebels are too primitive to figure out how to fire these missiles, here is a video of them actually launching one:The chemical attack in Khan al-Assal is said to have been done by Assad, but as people are swayed to believing the jihadist rebels, we have first hand testimony from just one of the multitude of victims of this tragedy:Also, there are some important facts that we have to take into perspective:The assault happened in the town of Khan al-Assal, a predominately Shiite town. The Syrian revolution is a Sunni movement, and one of its main goals is to remove the Shiite Assad regime. The town has also been a common victim of attacks by Al-Qaeda, a Sunni organization. This is an indication that the attack was conducted by Sunnis, and not the government — which is Shiite.Moreover, neither the rebels nor the government deny that amongst the victims were military personal. In fact, it is said that out of the 26 dead 16 were Syrian soldiers. Why would a Shiite government orchestrate a terrorist attack on its own soldiers especially in a Shiite town?Assad is very loyal to his own sect — the Alawites — which is a part of Shia Islam, and they in turn are loyal to him. This allegiance is so strong that, according to Middle East expert Walid Phares, if Assad ever escaped from the rebels and hid in the northwestern part of Syria, where most of the Alawites live, and his enemies came to attack there, he would use chemical weapons “to defend his own community.”Khan al-Assal, the place of the attack, is in the northwestern part of Syria, to where Assad would flee, and the region that he would be willing to defend.Furthermore, a medic at the local civilian hospitalsaid that he personally saw soldiers attending to the wounded at the scene of the attack.Another factor that deserves attention is that the device used for the attack was not advanced; both American and independent weapons analysts confirm this. If the Assad regime had done last week’s incursion, then it would have utilized something of a more sophisticated arsenal.Also, if the government was behind this, the attack would have killed more than just 26 people, since Syria is said to own the largest chemical arsenal in the region.It is reported that the Syrian military believes that the assault was done by launching into the town a home-made rocket containing CL17, a type of chlorine that can be found at your local swimming pool.Though this was a small attack, chlorine can be used to implement very significant destruction on human populations. According to Benjamin Brodsky, writing for the Monterey Institute of International Studies:

The worst industrial accident in history is illustrative: 40 metric tons of methyl isocyanate was released from a Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, India, on December 3, 1984. The resulting plume killed at least 3,000 people downwind and injured more than 100,000. A sufficiently large release of elemental chlorine may be capable of exacting a comparable toll, particularly if it were to be discharged in a highly populated civilian area.

Another point is that if Assad was indeed the attacker in this scenario, then the media would be making full scale reports affirming that he is the perpetrator. The White House would be confirming it, the U.N. would be confirming it–but they are not.It makes no sense that Assad would all of a sudden order such a strike in the first place, since he is worried about the repercussion of negative international responses. Walid Phares has made this point:

He is going to try not to use it [the chemical weapons] as much as as he can because he knows the international reaction is going to be very tough.

But, all of these facts have not stopped John McCain and Lindsay Graham from calling for U.S. intervention and the granting of weapons to the jihadists. In a recent joint statement, the two Republican senators wrote:

We are extremely disturbed by reports that chemical weapons have been used today in Syria. President Obama has said that the use of weapons of mass destruction by Bashar Assad is a ‘red line’ for him that ‘will have consequences.’ If today’s reports are substantiated, the President’s red line has been crossed, and we would urge him to take immediate action to impose the consequences he has promised. That should include the provision of arms to vetted Syrian opposition groups, targeted strikes against Assad’s aircraft and SCUD missile batteries on the ground, and the establishment of safe zones inside Syria to protect civilians and opposition groups. If today’s reports are substantiated, the tragic irony will be that these are the exact same actions that could have prevented the use of weapons of mass destruction in Syria.

The facts do not stop Republican Mike Rogers from affirming that it is a “high probability” that Assad used chemical weapons, as can be found in a recent interview:America is in, to a degree, intervening in the Syrian situation.One diplomatic source has stated:

Scores of U.S. military advisers in Jordan are training the rebels.

It has also been said that that training and weapons has been financed by Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and that the goal of the U.S. and NATO is to make the rebels into a formidable fighting force “capable of countering the Syrian Army.”Our primary concern should be that one day our own nation will work with NATO to militarily strike the Assad regime and allow the revolutionaries to prevail. Such an act will not only enable Islamic fundamentalism to further expand, but it will empower Turkey to commence its much aspired empire — that is — a revived Ottoman empire.Theodore Shoebat and Walid Shoebat are the authors of the book, For God or For Tyranny.Source:http://frontpagemag.com/2013/theodore-and-walid-shoebat/alarming-footage-who-is-really-using-chemical-weapons-in-syria/Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.